This invention relates to an apparatus for stretching sewn portions of cloth in a sewing operation. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus for stretching sewn portions of cloth in a process for sewing cloth with a sewing machine, according to the inventive concept the cloth is stretched from both sides with the sewn portion acting as the boundary. The cloth is stretched in the rear of the sewing position of the sewing machine and the ironing of the stretched portion of the cloth is performed automatically and continuously.
In making garments, suits and the like, a cloth sewn by a sewing machine is manually stretched from both the sides with the sewn portion being the boundary and the stretched portion is ironed. These operations of sewing, stretching and ironing, however, have heretofore been one separately and independently, rendering the entire sewing process troublesome and complicated. Especially at the stretching step and ironing step, the side edges of the sewn cloth are pressed and stretched by fingers and the thus stretched portion of the cloth is ironed. Accordingly, much labor and time are required for these operations in case of not only single side sewing where the side edge of the cloth is open but also bagging where the side edge of the cloth is closed, and the efficiency is drastically lowered by these stretching and ironing operations.
It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide an apparatus for stretching the sewn portion of cloth in which the operations of stretching the cloth from both the sides with the sewn portion being the boundary in the rear of the sewing position of a sewing machine and ironing the stretched portion of the cloth is performed automatically and continuously.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for stretching the sewn portion of cloth in which when the cloth feed operation of a sewing machine is interrupted and the cloth is taken out from the sewing position of the sewing machine, or when the cloth is shifted forwards and backwards to perform reciprocating sewing on a prescribed part of the cloth, an ironing member is shifted from the position falling in contact with the cloth and there is no risk of burning the cloth by the local heating by the ironing member can be completely expelled.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for stretching the sewn portion of cloth in which steam is continuously jetted to the stretched portion of the cloth simultaneously with ironing and uniform iron finish can be imparted to the stretched portion of the cloth.
A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for stretching the sewn portion of cloth in which when the cloth feed operation of a sewing machine is interrupted and the cloth is taken out from the sewing position of the sewing machine, or when the cloth is shifted forwards and backwards to perform reciprocating sewing on a prescribed part of the cloth, jetting of steam to the stretched portion is stopped simultaneously with the shifting of an ironing member from the position falling in contact with the stretched portion of the cloth and damage to the finish by local concentrated jet steam is prevented.